This Is Why I Don’t Blog on Sunday

In the new 24/7 mediaverse, in a brutal, unending culture war, with the web unleashed and news and opinion flashing every few seconds, you can very easily lose yourself, and forget how and why you got here in the first place. There have been times writing and editing this blog on that kind of insane schedule for more than a decade when I have wondered who this new frantic way of life would kill first. I do not doubt that Andrew tried to keep a balance, and stay healthy, but like the rest of us, became consumed with and overwhelmed by this twittering, unending bloghorreic chatter. It takes a much bigger physical, emotional and spiritual toll than most realize, and I’ve spent some time over the years worrying it could destroy me. Here I am, after all, at 9.30 pm, still blogging, having just filed another column, and checking the traffic stats, and glancing feverishly at every new item at Memeorandum.

Human beings were not created for that kind of constant unending stress, and the one thing you can say about Andrew is that he had fewer boundaries than others. He took it all so seriously, almost manically, in the end. The fight was everything. He felt. His anger was not feigned. He wanted to bleed and show the world the wounds. He wanted to scream. And he often did. And when you are on that much, and angry to that extent, and absorbed with that kind of constant mania, and obviously needing more and more validation, and on the online and real stage all the time, day and night, weekends and weekdays … well, it’s a frightening and dangerous way to live in the end.

I’d like to know if it’s really true that “most pastors work seven days a week.” If we do, we’re not taking good care of ourselves, our congregations, or our families. I work six days a week, most weeks. There is the occasional emergency or meeting that can not be rescheduled that happens on my day off, but it is a rarity. Full disclosure: I’m an associate. Still, as a solo or head of staff, I plan to follow in the example of mentors and admired pastors who take a day off each week. What about the rest of the pastors out there? Are you really working seven days a week, every week? Stop!

Jeremy

6 days a week?
Take another day off.

joe carson

Andrew loved/obsessed/etc with it. He knew the risks and took them anyway. I think it more respectful of his/our free moral agency to say that. Death awaits us all, he lived life on his terms much more than most. We all play for an audience of one, at end of it, by Christian worldview. He had no kids or spouse, so being a mercenary for his cause was his existence.

You’re not Andrew, impact wise, in-part because you don’t want to play the game the way he did. That’s fine, you have free moral agency too.

Scot Miller

Unless you mean it metaphorically, it is untrue that “he had no kids or spouse.” Brietbart is survived by a wife and four children.